Parsonblue

Please tell me who these 6 right backs are that are better than Nyambe and are within our budget? Remember we have spent a number of years developing this lad in our academy at some expense. If he leaves - and I have no doubt that he will leave and probably this summer - that money is wasted. Mowbray threw him under the bus on Friday when he knew that the kid he has brought on loan Everton was badly out of position and whose judgement was shocking from start to finish. Lenihan too was caught out. No wonder the goalkeeper decided he'd better start playing centre-back himself with the way the two in front of him were shaping. Nyambe has been excellent as an attacking full-back and has the pace to recover to get back to defend. We have nobody else at the club who can do that role as well as Nyambe. We have little in the way of financial resources but you suggest that we spend money on bringing in a player to replace a player who has done a more than decent job in that position. I suspect we will allow Nyambe to leave and then borrow another youngster from a Premier League club to let him learn his trade and make his mistakes at Ewood. The joy of being a nursery for the big clubs!

Nyambe is probably the best defensive prospect that we have at the club. He ought to be our right-back for the next 5 or 6 years or more. He has all the attributes needed for that position but, sadly, I suspect he will be allowed to drift away from the club. Meanwhile we give minutes to a lad from City, who is certainly far inferior to Nyambe, but it will help Pep develop the player for the future. And we wonder why supporters are turning their back on what is becoming a nursery club for the Premier League!

They put out a weak side and I suspect are only too happy to get out of the competition. It's a sad state that football has got itself into when Premier League money is far more important than the FA Cup to the majority of Premier League sides. Sadly, the cups are just not that important to clubs anymore.

I must admit that I've reached the point as to seriously question the value of paying even a tenner to watch Rovers at the moment. Like arbitro, I hadn't got a clue as to what formation we were playing or what role the players had. The substitutions - particularly replacing Nyambe with the kid from City - were mystifying at times. The Nyambe substitution really irritated me. Here we have a really good prospect who should be our right-back for years to come. A lad who has all the qualities required to play that position in the modern game and yet in the summer I feel sure he will be off and who could blame him. We will no doubt spend next season with a make-do-and-mend job until someone realises that full-back is a specialist position and needs a specialist in it! We ended yesterday with a back-four of two kids on loan - who are here simply to get experience to benefit their own clubs in the long term and not Blackburn Rovers - and a player who is out of contract and will be released come May. Whilst this is a League in which anyone can beat anyone on their day the fact is that if you are serious about reaching the top six these sort of games need to be won. Sadly, we seem to lack that winning mentality both on and off the pitch. We've spent serious money on Gallagher and Brereton and the return has been abysmal. Brereton - who is supposedly a different player this season - has scored 3 League goals thus far. Gally has four. Hardly top six material. We badly need a target man up front. A rough, tough, bully who will impose himself on defenders and create things for others as well as score a few. We also need a similar type in the centre of defence who can organise those around him. Above all supporters need to see that the club has a plan, a strategy for achieving promotion. Watching kids make mistakes and learn their trade before returning to the club that actually owns them has little long term appeal.

I think the plan is to cover home games at Leyland and stream them live.

A good win but a huge slice of luck with regard to the Branthwaite incident. It should have been a penalty and a red card for dangerous play for me. But, having said that, we've had numerous decisions go against us in the past. Bottom line is the standard of refereeing in the EFL is appalling at times. Our goal was well worked and fair play to Mowbray, the substitutions he made afterwards ensured we controlled the game from that point on. I thought both sides looked pretty average to be honest. The fact that both are being talked about as potential play-off candidates illustrates the poor standard of the Championship. It may be an exciting division in terms of everyone is capable of beating everyone on their day but in terms of footballing quality its pretty poor. No wonder teams that get promoted usually pay only a flying visit to the Premier League before returning from whence they came.

I must admit that I like Mowbray. I would never question his honesty nor his integrity. I believe history will judge him kindly in terms of his contribution to the club. I think he is a genuinely decent bloke who has done many good things at this club. He reminds me very much of Bob Saxton. However, like all managers there comes a point when your race is run at a club and if his race isn't quite run he is certainly well into the final furlong. Yesterday was another shocking performance for 75 minutes and then the players decided to stir themselves and rescue a point. Whilst the buck stops at the top there is no doubt in my mind that this group of players are far from top six material at the moment. Too many players have one good game in six or seven. When I compare this squad to the ones that Souness and Dalglish took into the top flight - well there is no comparison the present lot are light years behind. I've always felt this squad would finish somewhere between 8th and 10th at best and, sadly, we are underachieving those expectations at present. At present we seem devoid of ideas. There is no plan 'B' when opponents stop us playing the way we want. The back-four remain fragile - Powell highlighted that yesterday. The midfield is uninspiring at the moment - Mikel ran the game yesterday and was able to do it at walking pace. The attack is very hit and very much miss. We paid a huge amount of money for Brereton and Gallagher and neither one looks like a goalscorer. Indeed, they wouldn't get on the bench under Dalglish or Souness. As I said, I like Mowbray but it's a results business and for far too long those results have been poor and the football uninspiring. I hope I'm wrong and that he can turn it round - I'd be delighted - but at the moment I see no evidence of anything but another mid-table finish with fewer points and a lower position than last season.

The telling line in that article for me was " I probably haven't got a best XI, that depends on the opposition." The managers who I've enjoyed the most - and invariably been the most successful - Jack Marshall, Gordon Lee, Howard Kendall, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness had this strange habit of picking their strongest team week in and week out irrespective of the opposition.

Personally, I think this will turn out to be a 1960 watershed moment in terms of following Rovers. For me there are two big 'unknowns' that have little to do with Venkys, Waggott or Mowbray. Firstly, how many of the 'hardcore' supporters have now broken the habit of attending matches on a regular basis and will simply 'pick and chose' which matches to watch. I don't think the club have really grasped in the last twelve months that they are down to the hardcore and that the casual supporter has long since disappeared. Everytime they do something that makes some of that group walk away is another nail in the coffin and I think Stuart has perfectly summed up how that is likely to happen. Secondly, I suspect the long-term impact of Covid-19 will still have an impact on the game. Listening to the medical experts there seems to be agreement that social distancing and mask wearing is going to continue well into 2022 despite the vaccine. Away fans are likely to be severely restricted if allowed at all. Football is very much a social activity and if that is restricted it will surely impact on the numbers who want to attend, particularly as we seem to be treading water at the moment in terms of making progress with regard to promotion. Add the issues so well described by Stuart and JH Rover and I think the future is somewhat bleak. Speaking personally, after a sixty-year love affair with Blackburn Rovers I must admit that my interest is rapidly waning. I don't know if I can see myself returning to watching every game - home and away - and the majority of Under-23 games again. This season I've found it a chore watching games on iFollow. The only thing I've really missed is travelling with friends to games, meeting up with friends and the whole social experience that football brings. As for the mind-numbing stuff we're watching on the field at the moment - who needs it!

2009 is the last edition of the Complete Record.

Thanks Stuart. I read the forums but have taken a break from posting. I watch the games on i-follow but, to be honest, I've lost much of my enthusiasm for the game in general over the past nine months. I don't think football in general has covered itself in glory during this pandemic. Greed, as always, has come to the fore whilst the loyalty of supporters continues to be exploited. On the subject of analysts, I first came across their involvement when Mark Hughes was manager although I suspect it went on before. I remember being near the dressing room area in Finland at half-time in one of our UEFA games. Whilst the players were inside, Hughes and his coaching staff were studying the data on laptops and then went in to deliver their half-time team talk, presumably based on what the stats had shown them.

I think you'll find that Rachel Hindle is the first team analyst not Damien Johnson. The team of analysts are at every game - home and away - and producing the stats via their computer programmes for half-time team talks as well as full-time.

I think if that happened that would finish me with football for good. One thing the past nine months has shown is that football - even Blackburn Rovers - isn't all that important compared with the really important things in life.

I must admit that I do have some sympathy with regard to the injury situation. I think it's a result of so many games in such a short space of time and can understand why the likes of Pep etc wanted the extra substitutes rule to stay for this season. I suspect we will have any number of players from all clubs going down with muscle injuries throughout the season. Add that the whole business of self-isolating and I suspect we are going to see numerous make-shift sides selected. Where I do agree with you is the point about our non-striking strikers. Gallagher and Brereton have cost a huge amount of money, particularly given our financial position, and neither one looks anywhere near good enough for a team wanting to make a serious challenge for the top six. The buck for that stops at the manager's door. That chance last night was one that any natural goalscorer would have gratefully snapped up. Sadly, these two are always that fraction of a second too late because they are usually on their heels and don't read the game in the way an instinctive goalscorer would. You don't need to be a £5 or £6 million pound striker to score those short of chances - the likes of Tony Field and Simon Garner built careers on snapping up those type of chances. Brereton has scored 1 goal in 10 games and that is when he is supposedly showing good form. Gallagher too is a one goal striker so far, although admittedly he has been sidelined by injury but nothing he has done here in the past suggests he is going to be a 15 or 18 goals a season man. I was looking back at Kendall's side earlier today and I thought last night's game was a game we would have nicked 1-0. Crawford would have done nothing for 89 minutes, snapped up that chance and the defence would have held out for the win. Sadly, I really don't see us getting the 1-0 wins that ensure a successful season at the moment.

In view of the players available this was not a bad result. I thought the young 'keeper did well all things considered. I thought we were better once Evans came on in midfield but without Armstrong there is no cutting edge. Neither Brereton or Gallagher look like goalscorers which puts a huge amount of pressure on Armstrong. Elliott looks the real deal but Dolan needs to play a bit in the Under-23's for me. Listening to Mowbray after the game I'm amazed that we haven't got more players in self isolation with so many of the backroom staff having to self isolate. Hopefully, we'll get more players back after the international break.

Sensible move by Mowbray under the circumstances. This season is going to see far more players ruled out by injury because of the congested fixture programme. Add the problems with Covid-19 and the isolating issues and I don't think you can have enough players to be honest. I thought Downing did a decent job last season and his versatility will be extremely valuable this season.

That was the horse and cart vendor wasn't it? Remember it well from the late fifties/early sixties around the Daisyfield area.

They have kids who go to school and can come into contact with it and bring it home. They or their wife will take the children to school. This is going to happen throughout the season and will impact every club.

The family in India will make the appointment and you actually think they will pluck some rising star from Europe or further afield? The appointment will come from whichever agent is in favour at that particular time. The owners won't have a clue if that appointment is an improvement on the present manager or not.

No complaints about the result. We were beaten by a far better side who always looked like they could go up another gear whenever they wanted. Big, strong, powerful and well organised, Reading look a promotion challenging outfit. Seven wins from eight games is no fluke. Reading's first goal was unfortunate but after that we defended very poorly. Mowbray and Venus were both very good defenders in their playing days and yet we seem unable to construct a defence that actually looks the part. At the moment we look far too suspect at the back - Lenihan has been dreadful this season and tonight was embarrassing. JRC and Douglas both look good going forward but defensively look suspect. Up front we rely far too much on Armstrong and need others to chip in with goals. I thought we missed Johnson in midfield tonight. None of the three subs did anything to suggest they would improve matters and Gallagher, in particular, looks very poor at the moment. Our home form is dire for a team with any ambitions of challenging for a top six spot. At the moment we seem destined for a season sitting comfortably in midtable whilst keeping in touch with the top six without ever really making a serious challenge. As for the great debate on statistics there is only one that matters - Rovers 2 - Watford 4 - everything else is window dressing. A bit like Kean wittering on about entries into the opposition penalty area when you've just been hammered!

Personally, didn't think we played too badly over 90 minutes. Foster was excellent for them and made crucial saves. Ultimately, at this level you can't afford to make mistakes in both boxes. An own goal and a missed penalty proved costly in the end. Despite the disappointing result there were plenty of positives in this performance for me, far more than in the two previous home games.

Personally, the coverage is pretty decent in terms of picture quality. I'd much prefer to be at games, I'd much prefer to be travelling up and down the country to away games but I can't so I have to make do with what is available. The likelihood is that we will not get back into Ewood Park again this season so streaming is likely to be the only way to watch Blackburn Rovers until next season.

He's looked very promising since he arrived. Good passer of the ball, reads the game well and decent in the air. Not the finished article but hopefully will continue to develop.

Difficult game in difficult conditions. Cardiff snuffed out Dolan and Brereton and stopped the threat down the wing. Bell looked the best of the wide players - and in fairness did a decent job defensively. We needed Armstrong to have taken the chance in the first half to get Cardiff to come out more. Once they went down to ten they were happy to pack the final third. Frustrating game and result but overall I'm pretty happy with the way we have started the season under Mowbray. Once again, Williams looked the part in the centre of defence and Johnson always in control in the centre of the park.

Personally, I don't see this as a normal season and therefore no way is this going to be a normal transfer window for the majority of clubs. With plans for an October return to grounds now abandoned by the Government, I fear it's likely to be next spring, at the earliest, before spectators are allowed back in grounds, although I suspect it will more likely be next season before we get large numbers back - if there is a vaccine. Under the circumstances, the majority of clubs, Rovers included, are going to have to watch every penny with income being drastically reduced. Whatever the manager might or might not have said in the past few weeks in now irrelevant. The reality is that the majority of clubs, including Rovers, are in a struggle for survival at the moment. Personally, I couldn't care less if we sign anyone or not over the next few weeks, as the bigger picture is the survival of football clubs during these bleak times.